Juniors Journal: Doherty dominant for Islanders Hockey Club

Every hockey player at every level does his best to impress the
coach. The bumps and bruises a player picks up along the way are
all worth it when a coach says, “He’s having a great
year for us. He’s a strong skater, has a good head for the
game and will be an impact player at that next level. In fact he
doesn’t just hate to lose a game; he hates to lose a
shift.”

Those are the words Islanders Hockey Club head coach Sean
Tremblay used recently to describe Islanders center Michael Doherty
(Reading, Mass.)

Doherty has played in 17 Eastern Junior Hockey League games for
IHC this season and has become the club’s leading scorer with
12 goals and 18 assists. He is third in league scoring and has
registered points in all but three contests he has played in.

Doherty was a standout at Reading High School before
transferring to Groton School, from which Tremblay recruited the
19-year-old forward. After talking to Tremblay, Doherty decided
that his next stop on the hockey trail would be Tyngsboro,
Massachusetts and a season with the Islanders.

Doherty knew the jump from prep school hockey to the junior
level would not be easy.

“It’s always a big jump coming out of prep
school,” Doherty explained. “I trained hard during the
summer so I’d be ready for it (EJHL). The first couple of
games, it was playing against teams with more depth and bigger,
stronger players than I’m used to, but I’ve always been
pretty confident. I’m playing with really good linemates,
Chris Izmirlian and Connor MacPhee (Windham, N.H.). We have good
chemistry together and that helped and we’ve been playing
pretty well.

“You’ve got to come to play every night. Every team
in the league is playing well right now. You’ve got to stay
focused and be ready for every game.”

The first thing one notices about Doherty is how he uses his
strong skating ability to get open for passes and also to create
time and space for himself when he possesses the puck.

“I like to use my speed,” he said. “I think
I’m a pretty good skater. I try to be poised with the puck. I
like to get low (in the offensive zone) and make plays.”

Islanders assistant coach Paul Jenkins is very happy with how
quickly Doherty adapted to the EJHL and the Islanders systems.

“He’s a phenomenal offensive talent,” Jenkins
said. “After the first five games, he caught fire. He comes
ready to practice and play every time he jumps over the boards.
He’s an easy kid to coach. He’s extremely
bright.”

Doherty has been able to use his on-ice abilities as well as his
off ice intelligence to realize his dream of achieving a commitment
to a Division 1 college. Next season, Doherty will don the uniform
of the Yale University Bulldogs but he knows he still has things to
work on before he steps on campus.

“Yale and myself would like it if I can get bigger, put on
some weight and get stronger. I also need to pay attention to the
small details such as protecting the puck. Those things will help
me when I get to college.”

Jenkins sees a bright future for his forward.

“If he goes to Yale and continues to put in the work and
gets bigger and stronger then he’ll be very successful. If he
decides to play after he graduates, I have no doubt that
he’ll be able to do that as well.”

Those are words every player wants to hear from his coach.

Game of the Week

With the Eastern Junior Hockey League on Thanksgiving break,
college and National Hockey League scouts will focusing their
attention on the Thanksgiving Atlantic Junior Hockey League
Showcase. Eighteen league games will be played between Friday
November 23rd to Sunday November 25th at the Cyclones Arena in
Hudson, New Hampshire.

The match that should attract the most attention will
Sunday’s tilt between the New York Bobcats and the Walpole
Express.

The Bobcats have been at, or near, the top of the standings
since the first day of the season. After sweeping a two game series
with the Boston Jr. Rangers the ‘Cats have returned to being
the league’s number one club. Forward Patrick Schule has been
an offensive force. His 30 points has him in second place in AJHL
scoring while his 16 goals in first in the circuit. Four of
Schule’s lamplighters have been game winners. In the crease,
David Lynch has been rock solid winning 13 of 17 starts including
one shutout. He also carries a goals against average of 2.79 and a
save percentage of .903.

The Express, defending AJHL champions got off to a slow start
but are making the charge towards the league’s upper echelon.
They are in fifth place in the standings but are only four points
in arrears of the Bobcats. Heading into Sunday’s tilt with
the Philadelphia Little Flyers, Walpole had won six of its previous
ten games. David Goff’s 22 points is at the top of the
Express stats sheet and has him seventh in league scoring. Forward
Colin O’Neil (21 points) leads the AJHL with five game
winning goals. In goal, Kyle Shapiro is third among league
netminders with seven wins. His .1.90 goals against average and
.939 save percentage are each third best in the circuit.

The clubs have faced each once this season with Walpole emerging
with a 4-0 victory.

Power Rankings

To read Shawn Hutcheon’s analysis of each team in the
top 15, head over to our junior
power rankingspage.